AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has appeared in court in New Zealand on charges of threatening to kill and possession of drugs – but it wasn’t the low-key appearance his lawyers might have hoped for.

The 60-year-old turned up late, causing Justice Timothy Brewer to issue a warrant for his arrest; on leaving the court he jumped on his security guard’s back; he gave the finger to photographers; and, finally, he reversed his sports car into the path of an oncoming lorry, which had to brake to avoid a collision.

Rudd had been due to appear at Tauranga High Court at 9am on Wednesday, but was not present when the hearing began. The judge issued an arrest warrant that would have come into force had Rudd not arrived within 30 minutes. When the hearing began, Judge Brewer told Rudd his court would be transferred to Tauranga District Court. Rudd has yet to enter a plea to the charges.

However, the court case came at a terrible time for AC/DC, as they began promotional work on Rock or Bust, their first album for six years. Rudd played drums on the album, but seems unlikely to be in a position to join the band for a world tour to promote it. When the US DJ Howard Stern asked guitarist Angus Young if Rudd was still a member of the band, Young replied: “We’ve got to resolve that.”

In a previous interview, Young said: “‘We had a few issues before with him, even when we were recording it was hard even to get to him to do the recording. And then he was supposed to show up to do promos with us, to do video shoots and a few shoots and a few other things, and he never showed up for that either. So, at this stage, it’s a pretty tough call for us.’”